FEBRUARY 29!

 Here is some art by Zander Olsen to make you smile.

Margaux's Matryoshkas

Margaux Meganck makes beautiful Matryoshka bird sets.  I fell in love with these the first time I saw them and I'd love to hold some in my hands and slowly open them one by one to see the next little bird inside.  It looks like she painted these so lovingly that they are probably guaranteed to be full of tiny details to discover and examine.  She's also a pretty darn great illustrator and an all around wonderful person.  You can see more of her birds and latest illustrations on her blog here.   

What is....

Have you ever tried to explain a concept or abstract idea to someone who speaks a different language than you? Or tried to define seemingly simple words like 'faith', 'time', 'thought' or 'work' for young kids?  Well, its hard. And if you've never done it before, it just might make you laugh at yourself.  We use these words everyday, but if you think about it, they have a completely different definition for everyone.  These concepts are connected to emotions and beliefs and culture so are actually pretty personal.
Well, a while back I saw these videos from The 'What Is?' Project asking people to explain these basic-but-also-totally-grand words.  The cameras catch them fidgeting, awkwardly biting their lips, and pulling together a definition.  Some of them are scientific, some are spiritual and some are more eloquent than others.  Sometimes simple is better and sometimes not.  And sometimes theres a camera in your face and you just try your best.


What Is Time? (#1) from The What Is Project on Vimeo.




What Is Music? (#1) from The What Is Project on Vimeo.

Au Naturel

The Au Naturel show opened tonight at the CCC Art Gallery just a few blocks from my lovely little apartment.  This is an annual international juried competition of 2-D work showing "the nude in the 21st century" and the whole town has become a part of it.  Most galleries and restaurants around Astoria will also have figurative shows during March while Au Naturel is up. Thats just one more little reason to love this place. Here are some images from the show.

This year's winner by Annie Heisey

painting by my friend, Reed Clarke

Victoria Selbach

Nevin Berger

And here's a painting I made years ago that was in the very first Au Naturel show.  I painted this little lady one spring day in Paris. 

Simon Kaan

Simon Kaan is a Chinese, Maori (Ngai Tahu), and European artist whose lineage all comes together in his amazing prints and paintings.  He lives and works in New Zealand and uses Maori forms and subjects in his art. They also have a sepia or black & white tone to them, and are full of balance and space that remind me of Chinese landscapes.  He uses multiple horizon lines to create depths of sky or ocean and this space is often connected and pinned down by a flying moth or the tip of a canoe.  I think they're pretty darn beautiful and their minimal lines still give us so much to look at.  

Luigi Ghirri

The first time I saw a Luigi Ghirri show was at a gallery in Paris when i was 21.  Along the back walls, were rows of small, framed photographs showing interiors of rooms.  The walls physically in front of me were flat and white, but the spaces in these photos were warm and very alive.  Every inch showed texture, 5 different shades of the same color, peeling wallpaper, a nail poking out of a plaster wall, and spaces that looked like they had been well used.  They were nostalgic and visually harmonious.  As a painter, I immediately felt connected to what i saw in the colors and textures and it was the first time I fell in love with photography.

He's playful with light, scale, and atmosphere and often uses backgrounds or objects as stand-ins for something 'real'.  In the loveliest way, he shows us that we cant always believe what we see.     

 

 

     

Happy Birthday Oregon!

And of course, happy valentines day.

Le Lit by Toulouse-Lautrec

Music Video Day!

Lately its felt like life is full of films and videos.  I think thats because:

1. The Portland International Film Festival is going on right now, 2. Some friends of mine were just at Sundance and 3. All this soggy weather is keeping me inside watching old Italian cinema.  Throughout all of this, I've seen some great music videos.  I do love music videos and I'm a sucker for things that are beautiful and dramatic.  Heres a couple of cool ones I saw today. 

From MIA's Bad Girls video.  She always does something tough and visually new.  I saw her in concert once and it was totally from a different world than the one Im used to seeing everyday.

These are from a Sigur Ros song called, Glosoli .  It was made back in 2005 but somehow I missed it until today.  It's dramatic and dreamy and since the band and this video are from Iceland, its packed with beautiful scenery.  In this video, children wander through a rural, blue world.  Halfway through, they wake up to a yellow day and run full speed up a hill that ends in an enormous cliff.  Much to our joy, they fly off into an open sky. !!! I was so excited for them! 

And heres a fantastic Fleet Foxes video from last year.  I know stop-motion animation is everywhere, but as an illustrator, I will never ever get sick of it.  This ones a long epic full of beasts and fantasy. Woo-eee!

The Shrine / An Argument from Sean Pecknold on Vimeo.

Myth or Mammal

From top to bottom: Intertwined by Wangechi Mutu, Picasso being silly, Quigauk For Hyacinth and May Wit'l Elk by Rick Bartow

Wayne White's Word Paintings

I've been seeing Wayne White's paintings around the internet lately and they always make me smile and remind me that sometimes we can all be a little ridiculous.  Apparently, he was also a set designer for Pee-Wee's Playhouse and an art director for music videos, and won a bunch of awards for both. In his art, he adds huge and often hilarious text into landscape paintings.  The one-liners always make me stop and think of real situations and people connected to each phrase. This world is full of individuals and characters with their own styles and egos. And Im sure that when I laugh at others, they laugh right back at me.